Machine for making toothpicks



Model.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

E. M. LAMB & E. BALES.

MACHINE FOR MAKING TOOTHPICKS.

No. 588,645. Patented Au 24,1897.

f 11 L Y MTNEEEEE I I1 V NVE TEIIF\S W v (No Model.) I I 3 sheets-sheet2.

E. M. LAMB E. BALES.

MACHINE FOR MAKING TQOTHPIGKIS. I N0. 588,645 Patented Aug. 24, 1 897.

I y I (No Model.) 3 Sheips-Sheet 3. E. M. LAMB & E. BALES.

MACHINE FOR MAKING TOOTHPIGKSL Patented Aug. 24, 1897 4 I IWENT F mg m.2%

h H, JV E wai UNITED STATES PATENT Fries.

EDWARD M LAMB AND EMMOR BALES, OF CLAYTON, MICHIGAN.

MACHINE FOR MAKING TOOTHPICKS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 588,645, dated August24, 1897. Application filed February 4, 1897. Serial No. 621,927. (Noinodel.)

' To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, EDWARD M. LAMB and EMMOR BALEs, citizens of theUnited States, residing at Clayton, in the county of Lenawee, State ofMichigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machinesfor Making Toothpicks; and we do declare the following to be afull,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to theletters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification. 7 I

This invention relatesto machines for making toothpicks; and it consistsin the con; struction and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully setforth and claimed;

The object of the invention is to provide a machine for the manufactureof hard-woodtoothpicks in which the arrangement issuch as to produce around-turned pickpointed at both ends of superior quality, at the sametime effecting economy in the manufacture of the picks because of therapidity with which they can be made, and for the further reason thatthey can be made fromany kind of hardwood lumber with but little waste.This object is attainedby the mechanism illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Figure l is a front elevation of our machine formanufacturing toothpicks, a portion of the cross-piece carrying thefeeding-funnels being broken away to show the openingsin the series offeeding-heads. Fig. 2 is a plan View of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a rearelevation of' the machine, Fig. 4 is an end elevation thereof. Fig. 5 isa vertical transverse section as on line 5 5 of Fig. 1. Fig. '6 is anenlarged detail in perspective of aportion of the operative mechanism,parts being broken away. Fig. 7 is also an enlarged detail inperspective of some of the parts shown in Fig. -6. Fig. 8 is an enlargeddetail, partly, in section, of one of the rotary cams and the pivotedarm actuated thereby. Fig. 9 is an enlarged detail, partly in section,of the mechanism for holding the strands from which the toothpicks areformed in engagement with the. rotary cutters. Fig. 10 is a horizontalsection through one of the series of feedingheads which feed the strandsthrough the machine. Fig. 11 is a front elevation of said head. Fig. 12is a view of the completed toothpick. y j.

Referring to the letters of reference, A designates the frame of themachine, which may be of any suitable construction. the bottom of theframe longitudinally and journaled in suitable bearings therein is themain shaft B, carrying on one end the drivepulleys B'; On the oppositeend of said shaft is a large pulley B, which is connected by the belt 0with the pulley G on the shaft 0, journaled in the upperpart of saidframe and carrying a series of circular cutters D, which are spaced aproper distance apart on said shaft by means of interposedcollars'a.

In the machine herein shown there are ten of the rotary cutters D, andcorresponding with said cutters, but located above and in advancethereof, is a series of rotary feeding- Crossing heads D, which headsare journaled in the frame of the machine and which are adapted to feedthe strands or splints from which the toothpicks are formedlongitudinally over the rotary cutters and revolve them rapidly at thesame time.- These feeding-heads are shown more clearly in Figs. lOand 11and consist of a short hollow rotary shaft E, journaled in an inclosingcase which embraces said shaft and is provided at its inner end with anenlarged portion E, which receives the enlarged outer end E of saidshaftE. Mounted upon the'enlarged end of said shaft are the opposed studs b,which project axially of the shaft. J ournaled between said studs arethe opposed spindles c, which carry on their opposite ends the beveledgears d and which are provided with the registering rollers e. The innerwall of the enlarged end portion E of the case receiving said shaft E isprovided with an internal thread I), which meshes with the teeth of thebeveled gears d, whereby a rotation of the hollow shaft E will cause thegears 01 to be driven in opposite'directions, thereby turning thefeed-rollers e and causing them tofeed the splint d longitudinallybetween their opposed peripheries, at the same time causing said splintto revolve around its longitudinal axis by means of the rotation of thehollow shaft through which it passes, said shaft being driven by a gearD mounted on the outer end thereof.

These feeding-heads D are arranged in a horizontal plane, as shown inFig. 2, and are driven by the train of engaging gears D, the angle ofthe threads I) in the enlarged end of the case receiving the teeth ofthe gears of the feeding-heads being alternately reversed from right toleft hand threads, so that the feed-rollers in all of the feeding-headswill be so rotated as to carry the splints or strands cl in the samedirectionthat is to say, into the machine.

The train of gears D" of the feeding-heads is driven through the gear A,(see Figs. 1 and 2,) which is mounted on the outer end of acounter-shaft A, journaled in the upper portion of the frame and drivenby a belt F, passing over the pulley F thereon and over the pulley F onthe end of the short lower shaft G, which shaft G is driven through theengagement of the beveled gear G thereon with a like gear G on the mainshaft 13.

Crossing the front of the machine is a bar H, whose ends are detachablysupported in brackets 11 on the machine-frame. Located in said bar is aseries of funnels H, which stands adjacent to and in line with theopenin g in the hollow shaft E of the feeding-heads and serves to assistthe operator in guiding said splints into said heads in the operation offeeding the machine. lVhile we have shown and described the specificfeeding mechanism herein set forth for feeding the strands of wood tothe machine, it is evident that we may employ any suitable means forfeeding the strands longitudinally and rotating them at the same timewithout departing from the spirit of our invention.

Located in the rear of the rotary feedingheads, in line with theaperture therethrough and directly over the rotary cutters D, is aseries of guide-shoes f, said shoes having a way formed betweendepending flanges f in their under faces adapted to receive the splintsfrom the feeding-heads and hold them in engagement with the rotarycutters, as shown in Fig. 5. These shoes are provided with a verticalstem f, which projects upward into a suitable housing I in the frame ofthe machine and is environed by a coiled spring g, which is confinedbetween the base of said housing and a collar g on the upper end of saidstem, (shown more clearly in Fig. 9,) by which arrangement saidfeedshoes may be depressed against the action of the springs g, but willbe returned by said springs when the depressing force is removed.

Extending longitudinally of the machine adjacent to the upper end of thehousings I, containing the stems of the series of guide shoes, is across-head I, having a series of setscrews 9, which screws pass downwardthrough said cross-head and engage the collars g on the stems of theguide-shoes. This cross-head is common to all the setscrews g, each oneof which is adapted to bear upon the collar 9 on the stem of thecorresponding guide-shoe, and when said cross-head is depressed all ofsaid shoes are simultaneously carried downward thereby and are returnedby their respective springs 9 when said crosshead is raised. Thiscross-head I is depressed through the medium of the mechanism shown moreclearly in Figs. 6 and 7, in which there is shown a longitudinal shaftJ, which is driven by a worm J 011 the crossshaft A", which meshes witha gear J on said shaft J. Mounted on each of the outer ends of saidshaft J is a cam-wheel K, having a high point 11 thereon. Engaging theperiphery of said cam-wheel K is an antifrictionroller 1', which isjournaled to an inclined arm K, the lower end of which is reduced, as at'5", and passes through a guide-opening e in the plate K of the frame.The upper end of said arm is pivoted to one end of a lever L, theopposite end of which is pivoted to the frame of the machine and whichis provided at its longitudinal center with an adjusting-screw h, whichpasses therethrough and engages the upper edge of the cross-head I. Itwill now be seen that by the rotation of the shaft J the high point dotthe cams K on the ends thereof will engage the antifriction-rollers i ofthe arms K and throw said arms slightly downward depressing thecrosshead I and carrying the series of guide-shoes f downward closer tothe rotary cutters, whereby the splints carried by said'shoes are forceddownward onto the rotary cutters D, which, cutting more deeply into saidsplints, produce the tapered points 0 thereon. (Shown in Fig. 12.) Itwill be understood that this depression of the series of splints throughthe actuation of the cross-head I occurs quickly and that at eachdepression the adjacent ends of two consecutive picks are pointed, asshown at the center of Fig. 12. This operation of depressing the shoesis so timed with the feeding mechanism as to produce picks of therequired length, which may be varied as desired.

As will be seen on referring to Fig. 12, the operation of pointing theadjacent ends of the picks does not sever the strand from which they areformed. To break the picks apart after the operation of pointing them,they are caused to pass between a series of pins 8, (see Fig. 2,) whichpins are set in the table of the machine and adjacent to which islocated a horizontally-reciprocal bar M, having dependin g fingers t,which are adapted to engage the strands of the pointed picks as said barreciprocates at right angles to the movement of said strands and breakthem off at their reduced point between said pins .9. The horizontalreciprocation of the bar M is accomplished by means of a mutilated disk0, mounted on the shaft J and having a segment of its periphery cutaway.Lying against the tached-to the end of said bar is a coiled spring a,which serves to return said bar when it has been carried in the oppositedirection by the rocking arm P. As the mutilated disk 0 rotates theright-angled end 1" of the rocking arm P will drop over whenencountering the open segment of said disk, permitting the spring a todraw the bar M longitudinally. A further rotation of said disk 0 willcause the full face thereof to pick up the end 1' of said rocking arm,thereby swinging the upper end thereof inward and moving said bar M inthe opposite direction, imparting to said bar, through the rotation ofsaid disk 0, a horizontally-reciprocal motion, whereby the continuousstrands of toothpicks are broken off, as before described.

As the toothpicks are broken off or separated by the reciprocating bar Mthey fall onto an inclined corrugated table Q, down which they travel toa spout R, located below the lower edge of said table. To facilitate thepassage of the toothpicks down said inclined table, said table is causedto vibrate by means of a lever S, (see Figs. 1 and 2,) which is pivotedat o to the frame of the machine and engages at its upper end in asocket in the under face of said table, being pivoted to a pitman T,extending from an eccentric strap 20, which embraces an eccentric T,fixed upon the main shaft B, whereby as said shaft rotates the lever Foscillates, imparting a vibrating motion to the table Q.

, The spout B, into which the toothpicks fall from the inclined table Q,is also caused to vibrate, so that the picks may be caused to passdownward therein and discharge from the lower end thereof. Thisvibratory movement of said spout is imparted through the means of a pin8, which is placed slightly eccentric in the pulley F and to which isjournaled the upper end of the arm S, whose lower end is loosely pivotedat s to the frame of the machine. Projecting from said arm is anextension 2, which is attached to the upper end of the spout R, wherebyas the pulley F revolves a short vibratory movement is imparted to saidspout.

It will now-be understood that by means of the machine described andshown herein hardwood toothpicks may be formed which are turned andpointed as shown in Fig. 12. The strands from which the toothpicks aremade being fed into the machine and rotated rapidly as they are fed, thebodies of said picks are thereby reduced to a cylindrical form as theyare carried over the rotary cutters, and by means of the intermittentdepression of the guide-shoes a long tapering point 0 is formed on theends of the picks by said shoes carrying said strands downward upon.said cutters at intervals. The rapid rotation of the strands from whichthe picks are formed, together with that of the cutters D, turns the 7surface of the picks to a smooth and rounded form and evenly andperfectly tapers the ends thereof, producing toothpicks of superiorquality because of their perfect formation and of their strength anddurability.

I-Iaving'thus fully set forth our invention, what we claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a machine for making toothpicks, the combination of the rotaryfeeding-head for rotating and feeding the strand through the machine,the rotary cutter in line with said head, means involving a guide forcarrying the strand over said cutter in contact there- -with, and forintermittently depressing the rotary strand onto the cutter to form thetaper on the end of the pick.

2. In a machine for making toothpicks, the combination of the rotaryhead adapted to rotate and feed the strand from which the pick isformed, a rotary cutter located in the path of said strand and rotatingin the plane of the longitudinal axis thereof, means for holding saidstrand in contact with said cutter and intermittently depressing saidstrand.

onto said cutter.

3. In a machine for making toothpicks, the combination of the rotaryfeeding-head adapted to rotate the strand and carry it forward throughthe machine, therotary cutter located in the path of said strandstanding parallel therewith and turning in the direction of thelongitudinal axis thereof, means for holding said strand in contact withthe rotary cutter and intermittently depressing the strand thereon toform the tapered point of the pick, and means for separating the strandat the minor axis of said taper.

4. In a machine for making toothpicks, the combination of thefeeding-head adapted to rotate and feed the strand longitudinally, therotary cutter located in the path of said strand and turning in thedirection ofthe longitudinal axis thereof, means for holding the strandfirmly in contact with said cutter, and bringing said strand and cutternearer together at regular intervals to produce the tapered ends of thepicks.

5. In a machine for making toothpicks, the

combination of the rotary feeding-heads for feeding and rotating thestrands, the rotary cutters located in the path of said strands, theguide-shoes embracing said strands and located over said cutters, thecross-head carrying said guide-shoes, and means for-intermittentlydepressing said cross-head to carry downward said shoes and force thestrands downward onto said cutters.

6. In a machine for making toothpicks, the combination of thefeeding-heads for rotating and feeding the strands longitudinally, therotary c utters located in the path ofsaid strands, the series ofspring-actuated guideshoes adapted to receive said strands and hold themin contact with said cutters, the verticallymovable cross head,adjusting screws in said cross-head engaging the stems of theguide-shoes, and means for depressing said cross-head.

7. In a machine for making toothpicks, the

combination of the feeding-heads adapted to rotate and feed the strandslongitudinally, the rotary cutters located in the path of said strandsand adapted to turn said strands round, means for depressing saidstrands onto said cutters at intervals to reduce the transverse diameterof said strands by forming meeting conical points united at their outerapexes, fixed pins in the table of the machine between which saidstrands pass,the horizontally-reciprocal bar having depending pins whichengage said strands and separate the picks at their united points as setforth.

'8. In a machine for making toothpicks, the combination of the rotaryfeeding-heads adapted to rotate and feed the strands from

